Retirement lessons from Pope Benedict

If you’ve got a job for life, when should you call it quits?

Pope Benedict XVI’s announcement of his resignation today surprised the world. But while there’s only one pope, there are thousands of other professionals — including chief executives, entrepreneurs, university professors with tenure and artists — who face a similar conundrum: When you’ve got a job for life with no official retirement age, how do you know when it’s time to go?

Pope Benedict, 85, is reportedly the first pope to retire in almost 600 years, which made his decision all the more momentous. But since the pope believed his health issues were impacting his job, the decision seems relatively clear-cut. “One could say the pope put the needs of the church before his own,” says Trisha Scudder, founder of the Executive Coaching Group in New York City. It should be noted that while Benedict is stepping down from the papacy, he still has his original lifelong career, the priesthood.

For the growing number of retirement-aged professionals who are still hale and hearty, however, the decision gets more complicated. Retirement means more than just giving up a job, it means the end of a way of life. But it’s important to distinguish social status and notoriety from professional fulfillment, says Scudder, who’s spent three decades counseling CEOs. “Most people who have had a high-powered job don’t want to be greeted at a party with the words, ‘Didn’t you used to be?’” she says.

While staying on for status may be counterproductive, it’s equally unwise to retire for the wrong reason, says Amanda Augustine, a job-search expert at TheLadders, a careers website. Some questions worth asking: “Is something unpleasant in your personal life affecting your work?” A divorce or death of a spouse could lead to a rash decision — or it could fuel the realization that your work is the one thing that keeps you fulfilled in the years ahead. Alternatively, she says, such outside factors could spark soul-searching questions along the lines of: “What am I passionate about?” On the other hand, longing for longer and more frequent vacations is an early sign that someone with a job for life has reached the peak of their ambitions, says Scudder.

Some high achievers simply recognize that they have a higher calling — or at least something else they’d like to accomplish. In 2008, when Bill Gates, then just 52, retired from working full-time at Microsoft, he was able to give full attention to charitable and scientific research programs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, says New York-based career strategist Judith Gerberg. Gates provided an example for other high-achieving professionals by taking on an even bigger challenge, she says: “What’s bigger than global health and searching for ways to prevent and cure malaria?”

Another major consideration for some: succession. In 2010, Justice John Paul Stevens, a Supreme Court justice allied with the court’s liberal wing, announced his retirement. Stevens, who was about to turn 90, still had stamina: He’s been writing and taking part in public-policy debates since then. But his timing allowed President Barack Obama to nominate a justice of a similar ideological stripe; retiring earlier, under the George W. Bush administration, would likely not have resulted in a liberal replacement.

Of course, not everyone has the desire or energy to work like Betty White, who continues to act at age 91. But there is good news for those who, like White, remain in good health: Daily stress and worry drop sharply after the age of 50, according to a 2010 Gallup survey of over 340,000 adults aged 18 to 85. Still, career consultants say most people should be sensitive to whether their work remains fulfilling after many years on the job. “I worked with an advertising executive who retired and fulfilled a lifelong vocation to become a minister,” Scudder says.

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